In Washington, a Republican Congress and confrontations await Obama

Washington: President Barack Obama returns from a productive trip to Asia back to a Washington where confrontations loom with Republicans on immigration and a massive oil pipeline project.

The contentious immigration debate could mean a year-end fight over keeping the US government running, if some Republican lawmakers get their way.

On the foreign policy front, there is a 24 November deadline in nuclear negotiations with Iran, and questions are surfacing within the administration about whether to overhaul US policy toward Syria.

Given his faltering political support in the US and his party's recent election losses, Obama's trip to China, Myanmar and Australia appeared to offer respite.

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The president, who returned to the White House late Sunday, basked in policy breakthroughs with China and warm welcomes in Myanmar and Australia.

"I intend to build on that momentum when I return home," Obama said at a news conference before heading home.

When Obama set off for the Asia Pacific, both the White House and Republicans were suggesting that the Republicans' decisive takeover of the Senate in this month's elections could pave the way for bipartisan breakthroughs. But just two weeks after the election, that talk largely has faded, making it increasingly likely that Washington will churn through two more years of gridlock.

Republicans attribute the swift shift in tone largely to Obama's plans to move forward with executive actions on immigration that potentially could shield from deportation about 5 million immigrants who are living in the United States illegally. The president has pledged to announce the measures before year's end; he could act shortly after returning to Washington.

The incoming Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has warned that such executive actions would "poison the well" with the new Republican-led Senate and could prevent the party from working with Obama on other potential areas of agreement.

Republican leaders are considering what to do if Obama presses ahead. More conservative members want to use upcoming spending bills to block the president, but that could set the stage for a showdown for another government shutdown. Republicans, in a failed effort to derail Obama's health care program, instigated a partial shutdown of the federal government last year and brought the US to the brink of a potentially catastrophic default, and their approval ratings plummeted.

Republicans might not be eager for yet another showdown with the president, after telling Americans that they would use their new power to prove that could govern, and not just oppose Obama.

The party is also in a bind over immigration: the US electorate is rapidly becoming more diverse, especially more Hispanic, and Republican leaders have said the party risks its long-term future if it does not act to solve America's immigration problems. But immigration reform has been thwarted by conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives.

The fight over the Keystone XL pipeline that would run from Canada to the US Gulf Coast also has political implications.

Democrats see passage of a bill forcing construction of the project as a last-ditch effort to save Sen. Mary Landrieu, who faces a runoff election next month against Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy in oil-producing Louisiana.

The House passed a measure to move the project forward on Friday, and the Senate is set to act. But Obama has all but threatened a veto, repeatedly saying the only way the pipeline can be approved is after the completion of a long-stalled State Department review.

On Iran, Obama faces a deadline to reach a final agreement in sensitive nuclear negotiations. High-level talks in Oman last week failed to make major headway, potentially setting Obama up for a choice between pursuing another extension or abandoning the diplomatic effort.

The president has asked the Congress to start debating a new authorization for his airstrike campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, though he expects the legislative effort to pick up next year when Republicans take control of the Senate. The debate comes as Obama faces questions from within his own administration, including from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, about the effectiveness of the military operation, particularly in Syria.

Hagel said in a memo to White House national security adviser Susan Rice that Obama needed a clearer strategy for dealing with embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

AP